


No Happy Endings

by Julia_Fractal



Series: Roscoe Sweeney Redux [3]
Category: Daredevil (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Broken Legal System, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Dark!Matt, Death, Established Relationship, F/M, Injustice, Matt Murdock Breaks Up with the Law, Moral Ambiguity, Prison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-21 04:30:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19995889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julia_Fractal/pseuds/Julia_Fractal
Summary: *~*~*Three alternate versions of the Roscoe Sweeney incident, and the different ways Matt’s life might have unfolded.Timeline #1:“You should have listened to your girlfriend, Pretty Boy,” Sweeney’s voice crackled across the line.  “You could have killed me when you had the chance.  Now you’ll live to regret it.”*~*~*





	No Happy Endings

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is set in its own timeline, starting with a different ending to the Roscoe Sweeney incident, and covering the events that unfold from there. Every mini story stands alone plot-wise, but reading them in chronological order delivers more emotional impact. Enjoy!  
> ***

* * *

“Kill him,” Elektra urged as she pressed the knife into his trembling hands.

Matt’s knuckles were already bloody and bruised from the beating he’d just dealt out to Sweeney, years of rage and pain unleashing like a flood as he finally faced his father’s murderer.Slowly Matt turned to face the aging mobster slumped over in his chair, bound and half-conscious, completely at their mercy.Matt took one uncertain step forward, then another.Whatever he did next would change the course of his life forever.

“No, I can’t!” Matt told her as the knife clattered to the ground.“We need to call the police, we have to do this the right way.”  
  
“This is not going to turn out the way you want, Matthew,” Elektra said as he picked up the phone.In hindsight it was a warning, but in the moment Matt just flinched away from her and huddled over the receiver.  
  
“911, what is your emergency?”  
  
“I’d like to report the location of a wanted criminal,” Matt answered shakily.  
  
“Sir, this number is for emergencies only.If you have information on the whereabouts of a fugitive, you should contact your local police department or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-.”  
  
“No, you don’t understand!” Matt barked at her, nearly laughing at the absurdity of their conversation.“His name is Roscoe Sweeney.He’s a mobster and a murderer.I’m with him right now, he’s beat up really badly, we’re going to need an ambulance.”  
  
“What is your location, sir?Police and ambulance are on their way…”  
  
Afterwards, Elektra stayed with him as long as she was able. “We don’t have much time, but I can still make all of this disappear.Just come with me, Matthew…”  
  
“No, I need to stay and see this through,” Matt insisted.“He’s the criminal, not us.Everything will work out.”  
  
Distantly, Matt heard the wail of police sirens, still miles away but quickly converging on their location.“You’d better go,” he told Elektra, unsure if they’ll ever meet again.  
  
“Fine, have it your way.”Elektra leaned in for one last kiss, and Matt was too stunned to pull away or enjoy it.   
  
What he remembered more vividly was the blare of sirens drowning out the sound of Elektra’s retreating engine.The police lights washed over his body in corruscating shades of red and blue as he raised his bloodied hands in the air…  
  
Sweeney spent that night recovering in hospital, while Matt spent it at Riker’s Prison.

  
*~*~*

“Please, listen to me!” Matt pleaded as the police officer led him into a holding cell.“That man is not Al Marino, his real name is Roscoe Sweeney.He was a mobster for decades, and he’s responsible for the murder of my father and many others.”  
  
“Woah there, save it for the detective who’s going to conduct your interview later,” the cop advised him.“I’m just here to get you processed properly, and make sure no one hassles you while you’re in holding.”  
  
“You have to believe me, Detective —”  
  
“Not a detective, just a beat cop.The name’s Brett Mahoney, senior.”  
  
“Mr. Mahoney, I was just trying to do the right thing.”  
  
“Look kid, you haven’t even been charged yet.But the scene we arrived at sure didn’t look good.”The cop leaned in closer and dropped his voice, “I may be going out on a limb here, but you don’t seem like to type to break into a man’s home, tie him up, and beat him within an inch of his life just for kicks.What do you do for a living?”  
  
“I’m in first year law at Columbia,” Matt admitted.  
  
Mahoney chuckled and shook his head, “You must be at the bottom of your class, kid!Don’t need a fancy degree to know that it’s time to shut up and wait for your lawyer.”  
  
Wearily, Matt sat down on the cold steel bench inside the cell, and followed Mahoney’s advice.

*~*~*

“Matthew Michael Murdock?”  
  
“Yes?” Matt answered as he stood up, every joint stiff from a sleepless night in the holding cell.  
  
“The man you assaulted has refused to press charges.The district attorney reserves the right to prosecute at a later date, but for now you’re free to go.”  
  
Matt retrieved his phone and other belongings from the desk clerk.There was a voicemail from Foggy, sounding simultaneously cheerful and concerned: _“Hey Buddy, guess you’re still out on one of your epic dates with Elektra.There’s a hot pocket waiting for you if you make it back to the dorm today.I’ll be cramming in the library's after our Civil Law seminar, hope to see you there!”_  
  
There was nothing from Elektra.  
  
Matt made it back to his room in a daze.The cab ride from Rikers to Columbia seemed to take an eternity, but when it was over Matt couldn’t remember a single thought he’d had along the way.  
  
His phone began buzzing the instant he stepped through the door.Matt swiped right with clumsy fingers, desperately hoping that it was Elektra on the other end.  
  
“You should have listened to your girlfriend, Pretty Boy,” Sweeney’s voice crackled across the line.“You could have killed me when you had the chance.Now you’ll live to regret it.”  
  
“You don’t sound so good, Sweeney,” Matt answered with a lot more bravado than he felt.“Is that broken jaw making it difficult to talk?”  
  
“You know how to throw a mean punch, I’ll give you that.But real power doesn’t lie in your fists, it comes in the form of money, power, and influence.Come to think of it, maybe it’s a good thing you and your psycho girlfriend dragged me out of retirement.Now I’m going to come roaring back and show Hell’s Kitchen who’s in charge.”  
  
“I’ve got many contacts on the inside, among the cops as well as the inmates,” Sweeney continued.“There were a dozen guys at Rikers who would have shanked you without a second thought.Before that, a few of them would have done things to that pretty mouth and ass of yours that would make you wish you were dead.You’re only alive and free today because _I_ chose it.And I will definitely keep my promise about bloodying the streets with your corpse.”  
  
“So why haven’t you done it already?” Matt asked defiantly.  
  
“Doctor said I’ll be eating through a tube for the next month, so why should you get it quick and easy?No, it occured to me that it’s much more satisfying to play the long game.You won’t know when it’s coming or who’s going to deliver the blow.Maybe the sweet little thing you bring home next week will shoot you in your sleep.Or maybe I’ll wait until you’re my age and dangling your first grandchild on your knee.But rest assured that I’m coming for you.You will spend every day of your miserable, pathetic life looking over your shoulder and jumping at shadows, and I’m going to enjoy every last minute of your suffering.”  
  
“I’m not afraid of you,” Matt shot back.  
  
“Ahh, you sound a lot like your old man — Battlin’ Jack Murdock.He never liked taking orders about which fights to win and which ones to lose.That prize fight he disobeyed us to win cost us 130 grand.Of course I paid the guy 150 grand to whack him, but it’s the principle of the thing that counts.Your father couldn’t learn to stay down, so we had to put him down.You should have learned from your old man’s example.  
  
Matt gripped the phone so hard that he was afraid it would shatter.“Listen up you bastard, I’m not afraid of you.I _will not_ be afraid of you!I have no regrets about leaving you alive.All life is sacred, even that of a scumbag like you.Don’t ever threaten me or those I care about again!”  
  
Sweeney’s laughter was drowning out Matt’s words long before he’d reached the end of his speech.“Thanks for that kid, I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.See you around, Matthew.”  
  
Matt sat there clutching his phone for a long time.Finally he dialled Elektra’s number with shaky fingers, desperate to talk to the one person who’d understand his situation.An automated voice informed him that her number had been disconnected and was no longer in service.  
  
‘ _I will not be afraid,’_ Matt reminded himself as he stepped out onto the campus quad, his cane sweeping rhythmically ahead of him.It was just an ordinary day on campus, with the sun shining and a group of Freshmen playing frisbee tag on the grass.Matt resisted the temptation to cast out his senses in search of a hidden gun or knife, refused to suspect every passing student of being Sweeney’s stooge.  
  
Was this how his father had felt, living day to day under the mob’s rule?So strong in body and mind, yet utterly powerless over the course of his own life.So many things about Jack now made more sense.The constant simmer of fear and anger ricocheting back and forth, the many nights that Jack had to drink himself into a stupor before he could finally sleep…  
  
_‘I will not live in fear,’_ Matt held onto the thought like a mantra.But by the time he made it to the library, he was covered in a sheen of nervous sweat.   
  
“Whoa, buddy, you don’t look so good,” Foggy said as soon as Matt collapsed into his chair.  
  
“It’s fine.I just had a late night, that’s all.”  
  
“Everything okay with your girlfriend?”  
  
Matt shook his head before his brain could catch up.The last thing he wanted was to explain all of last night’s horrors to Foggy.Even knowing the details could make Foggy an accessory after the fact, and put him in more danger with the mob.  
  
“We had a bit of a falling out, and I don’t want to talk about it,” Matt answered.“Can we please just get down to studying?”  
  
“Okay, Mr. Cranky,” Foggy said, “but you own me a hot pocket when we get back.”  
  
Matt opened his civil law case book, and restlessly ran his fingers over the dots of Braille without absorbing a single word.  
  
‘ _My life is in danger.Probably Foggy’s too…Everyone I know could become the target of a mob hit.’_  
  
Elektra was gone, and Foggy can never know.Somehow Matt needed to find a way to defeat Sweeney all on his own.Sitting in that crowded library, he was surrounded by people, yet Matt had never felt so utterly alone.  
  
Finally one sentence on the page penetrated the fog clouding his brain.‘Justice prevailed in the case of the People vs. Jeffrey Stein…’   
  
_‘Justice prevailed.’_ With the same devotion he’d once clutched a rosary, Matt ran his fingers over those words over and over, fervently hoping to make them come true.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

>  **Next Chapter Preview:**  
>  _“Matthew Michael Murdock, you’re under arrest for the murder of Al Marino. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”_  
>  *~*~*
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and kudos unleash my happy dance :)


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